Red Sox Journal: Pedroia is now starting at the top

Tuesday

Sep 10, 2013 at 7:23 PM

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — With Jacoby Ellsbury out indefinitely, Dustin Pedroia found himself atop the Red Sox batting order for the first time since 2009 on Tuesday night at Tropicana Field. He might have...

Brian MacPherson Journal Sports Writer brianmacp

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — With Jacoby Ellsbury out indefinitely, Dustin Pedroia found himself atop the Red Sox batting order for the first time since 2009 on Tuesday night at Tropicana Field. He might have to get used to it in a hurry.

“The one thing we’ve really worked hard at is maintaining some continuity,” Boston manager John Farrell said when asked if he expected to rotate through leadoff hitters in the absence of Ellsbury. “If this is one that’ll give us some continuity until Jacoby returns, we’re certainly willing to stay the course.”

Pedroia this season is hitting .297 with a .371 on-base percentage, the third-best on-base percentage on the team behind David Ortiz (.395) and Daniel Nava (.388). But his slugging percentage is at .412, which would be the lowest of his career — perhaps making him an even better fit for the leadoff spot than the No. 2 or No. 3 holes.

Moving Pedroia up also allows Shane Victorino to slide back into the No. 2 spot he’s occupied for most of this season.

“In Jacoby’s absence, we felt like we needed a guy that would see a lot of pitches,” Farrell said. “It might help Shane in that two-hole to see how pitchers are going to attack a right-handed hitter. It also gives us an opportunity to get David to the plate in the first inning. There’s a number of things that went into putting Pedey in that leadoff spot.”

Pedroia last hit leadoff during a 2009 season in which Ellsbury struggled in April and May, prompting then-manager Terry Francona to drop Ellsbury in the lineup and elevate Pedroia. But after a month in which Pedroia hit .219 with a .287 on-base percentage — and had noticeably changed his plate approach, to his detriment — Francona moved Pedroia back to his old No. 2 spot and installed J.D. Drew as his leadoff hitter.

“He sees himself hitting [leadoff], and he wants so bad to do the right thing that he was getting himself in a hole in the count,” Francona said then. “We just want him to be himself.”

Should Pedroia again struggle in the leadoff spot, Farrell could turn to Nava or Victorino, the only other two Red Sox hitters to bat leadoff this season. He also could elevate the disciplined Stephen Drew, whose on-base percentage in the last six weeks is .369.

“I thought about it the other day against (Yankees righty Hiroki) Kuroda,” Farrell said.

Ellsbury remains in a walking boot to treat a compression fracture in his right foot, and he’ll be examined again later this week after the Red Sox return home from Tampa Bay.

Never say die

The Tampa Bay Rays went into play Tuesday night 7½ games behind the Red Sox in the American League East standings — though they’re clinging to a lead of 1½ games in the wildcard race despite a two-week stretch in which they went 4-11.

Even though Tampa Bay appears to be fighting for their playoff lives, Rays manager Joe Maddon isn’t about to concede the division.

“You should always aim high, man,” Maddon said. “We’re still aiming to try to win this thing. … The goal has always been to win the division first. And if we can keep our eye on that target, we have a much better chance of fulfilling what we wanted to do at the beginning of the season.”

He’ll be back

Though Felix Doubront has been skipped this turn through the rotation to make room for the return of Clay Buchholz, the plan remains for Doubront to return to the starting rotation — presumably early next week.

“At some point we’ll look to insert Felix back in,” Farrell said.

Rather than shifting one starter to the bullpen full-time, it appears that Farrell will use all six starters in combination with the three off-days left on the schedule to give extra rest to his entire starting rotation. Ryan Dempster and Jake Peavy already are getting extra rest this time through, for example, as they’ll pitch on six days’ rest when they take the mound on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.

It remains to be seen how Farrell handles the Red Sox rotation in the final week of the season — a week that includes a pair of off-days in a four-day span sandwiching a two-game trip to Colorado. Part of the task that week will be to line up the rotation for the first round of the playoffs, though the Red Sox would have four more days off before the American League Division Series should they win the American League East.

Jose De La Torre was designated for assignment to make room for Buchholz on the 40-man roster.